1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a figure wheel of a combination lock, particularly to a figure wheel having a wheel body with raised figure marks integrally formed thereon and a slip resistant contact ring securely attached therearound.
2. Description of Related Art
In a first conventional figure wheel of a combination lock as shown in FIG. 5, a wheel body (80) is defined with figure recesses (81) in an outer surface thereof. A packing material with a color different to the color of the wheel body (80) is applied into the figure recesses (81) to enhance figure marks (82) on the outer surface of the wheel body (80). Although this type of figure wheel is improved in comparison with some other types of figure wheels which have their figure marks directly printed on their outer surfaces, the figure marks (82) are still subject to abrasion and have the possibility of separating from the figure recesses (81).
In order to obviate the defect of the above disclosed figure wheel, a second conventional figure wheel is designed. With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, the second figure wheel has a body (90) with figure grooves (91) defined therein, a hollow shaft (92) integrally formed in a center thereof, and an annular recess (94) defined therein communicated with the figure grooves (91). Connecting strips (93) are respectively provided in some of the figure grooves (91) to ensure internal separated blocks of the figures, such as four, six, eight, nine and zero are connected with the body (90). The figure grooves (91) and the annular recess (94) are filled with a plastic material, in such a way that the figures are marked out. The figure marks are thus prevented from being separated from the wheel body (90).
The above-disclosed two conventional figure wheels have completely the same design of their outer appearance, and this results in the following operational problems occurring with both of them:
(1) As the wheel bodies (80, 90) are abraded repeatedly when they are rotated by users, the surfaces of the wheel body (80, 90) become so smooth that a finger of a user often slips on the surface of the wheel body (80, 90) and so the users may experience frustration in trying to select the correct combination.
(2) The sensation from touching the conventional figure wheels is also not good.
(3) The annular space (94) is too big to be always evenly filled with the plastic material, therefore products are occasionally produced where portions of the figure grooves (91) are not filled with the plastic material.
Therefore, it is an objective of the invention to provide a figure wheel of a combination lock to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.
A main object of the invention is to provide a figure wheel of a combination lock to overcome disadvantages of the conventional figure wheels. The figure wheel of the invention has a hollow wheel body with a contact ring securely attached therearound. The wheel body has an annular portion integrally formed therein and an engagement gearing integrally formed on an inner side of the annular portion. A filling opening is defined in an outer side of the annular portion and communicated with an annular recess via a throat defined in the wheel body. The annular recess is defined in an outer surface of the wheel body between two raised edges respectively formed along opposite ends of the outer surface of the wheel body, and has a same height with raised figure marks which are integrally formed on the outer surface of the wheel body. A plastic material, which is softer than that of the wheel body and has a color different to the color of the wheel body, is applied into the annular recess from the filling opening via the throat and fills the annular recess, the throat and filling opening completely. When the plastic material has hardened, the contact ring made from the plastic material is securely attached around the wheel body. As the figure marks of the figure wheel are integrally formed with the wheel body, they are firm and abrasion-resistant.
A further object of the invention is to provide the figure wheel of the combination lock, wherein the contact ring is made from the plastic material, and the plastic material is softer than the material of the wheel body and has a color different to the color of the wheel body. Therefore the outer surface of the contact ring of the figure wheel is slip-resistant for convenience of users and can provide a pleasant sensation when touched.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.